According to Dominique Boesch, general manager of FAW-Volkswagen Automotive Company's Audi sales division, German automaker Audi will equip all of its Chinese-made vehicles with mild hybrid technology starting in 2012. If true, then Audi will become the only automaker to make stop-start technology standard on all of its vehicle manufactured in China.

China Car Times says that mild hybrid tech can reduce fuel consumption by up to five percent and that Audi is even considering adding such a system to vehicles that it ships to China from production sites in Europe. In terms of costs, Boesch says that Audi has not reached a final decision on pricing for its mild hybrid-equipped vehicles.

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Autoblog green, mixes it up everytime. GUYS GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT!!! micro hybrid = start/stop technology ~ the el, starter DOES NOT propell the vehicle mild hybrid = up to 15kw elektric power 2 power sources full hybrid = >15 kw el. power "If true, then Audi will become the only automaker to make stop-start technology standard on all of its vehicle manufactured in China." read yout stuff first autoblog.

who defined that standard? and who died and made them king. I'm not aware of any such standardization let alone wide adoption. and of course such doesn't exist as the terms are inherently ambiguous and power is relative to vehicle size and efficiency. I take mild hybrid to mean the honda IMA style drivetrain with an electric motor fixed connected to the ICE to assist or generate power. presumably also as a starter motor. I'm not sure the source article can be trusted all that much though as it states "By 2009, Audi had launched five all-electric vehicles". which are those and where can I buy them.. 5 lies about electric vehicles by 2009, maybe.

It's sad to see the USA volume car market becoming a technological backwater. @paulwesterberg has it right: by controlling legislation and gaming EPA mpg the USA car industry has ensured the domestic market is the home of last century's drivetrains and belt-driven accessories. Hi India!. Yeah, yeah I know about the fine hybrid and plug-in counterexamples, but Audi and others will soon have electric motors, regen management and all-electric accessories in all their cars for advanced markets, which should allow a cheaper faster transition to electric miles. EPA should move to ban polluting at a standstill in cities as an air quality issue.

Anonymous

4 Years Ago

Certainly car manufacturing companies are aiming at more eco-friendly alternatives, but with this new law in Germany they might go backwards. Now they'll be ranked on size, not only emissions, so large cars with high CO2 emissions could possibly carry better ratings than small vehicles with lower emissions. Some say manufacturers will only build heavier cars to make their cars look greener while emissions are still high indexed, what do you think? You can see more here: http://ecomobility.tv/forums/topic/a-porsche-and-a-city-car-same-carbon-footprint

...because they don't get credit for stop/start in the EPA cycle and it adds several hundred of dollars of parts to the vehicle. Just saving 5% of gas (payback well within 3 years which in engineering terms is something that should be done yesterday) seems to be difficult to sell I guess to Americans without EPA endorsement. Mind you the car companies are resistant to increasing fuel economy that does show in the EPA as well

In this day and age there should be a global standard test. I know not all countries have the same kind of conditions but the numbers are just for apples to apples comparisons, they don't have to represent real world mpg.

The EPA regulations are written by domestic industry lobbyists who want to downplay the significant gas savings from hybrid systems because foreign competitors have been technology leaders in this area for the last 10 years.(Toyota Prius, Honda Insight) This allows chevy, ford, chrysler to make minor tweaks in gearing & transmissions in order to improve their EPA mileage ratings while in actual use they waste a significant amounts of gas at stop lights and in congested traffic.

This is only for those idiots in China, Japan, Korea, Russia, India, Australia that want better gas mileage. Americans are smart, we don't need better gas mileage because we have wide open roads and don't do any city driving.

Mild Hybrid equals $4000 extra dollars and 2 more MPG. Worth it? The name "mild" is used to disguise the fact that it doesn't work. But it does allow the use of the new automotive buzz word "Hybrid" in the advertizing and on the side of the car.

Here are the facts from fueleconomy.gov Chevy Tahoe Hybrid 2WD 6L V8 21 mpg combined / 20 City / 23 highway Chevy Tahoe 2WD 5.3L V8 17 mpg combined / 15 City / 21 Highway. That's a 23% improvement in overall fuel economy. The hybrid system delivers! The regular Tahoe starts at $37,980, the hybrid starts at $50,720. But you can easily spec out a regular to $54,000 so it's hard to figure out the hybrid premium. A car is worth what people pay for it. If you expect the hybrid version to pay for itself in fuel savings, go stand at the end of the line behind everyone who values it for other reasons: cool tech/using less gas/not polluting at a standstill/etc. If it's only a payback calculation for you, the savings are ( price of gas) * miles * 4 / (17 * 21). At $3.20 a gallon, over 100,000 miles you save $3,500; at $4/gal you save $4500.

The numbers aren't made up. They're from another car that was called a "mild hybrid". The hybrid Chevy Tahoe cost $4000 more than it's gasoline only counterpart. With the 5% to 10% boost in fuel economy you only get an extra 2 to 4 MPG. I wish I could figure out the payback period a $2, $3 and $4 a gallon. I'm sure its going to be more than 10 years which by that time the car won't be worth anything. GM called the low effectiveness of the system "mild". A hybrid, to be worth $4000 extra, must boost MPG by at least 50% over a gas car of the same size and weight. Otherwise you're wasting your money.